As of August 2022, an estimate of over 6.4 million Ukrainians has fled the country to the neighbouring countries, seeking safety for their families and loved ones amidst Russia’s special military operation that began on February 2022. This has triggered one of the largest and hastiest refugee exodus in Europe since the end of World War II. The global response to refugees, but especially from the neighbouring countries, has been described as “tremendous solidarity and hospitality.” For instance, the European Commission promised to welcome refugees with open arms. Slovakia and Poland let refugees into their countries without passports or valid travel documents, Ireland lifted visa requirements, the United Kingdom relaxed its visa requirements for refugees, the European Union proposed and offered Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for at least three years, and the United States attempted to fast-track the application process and pledged to accept 100,000 refugees. In addition, the EU also proposed simplifying border controls and entry conditions for Ukrainian refugees. Ukrainian refugees can travel visa-free for 90 days throughout EU countries. The public and politicians have also been mobilizing as a display of solidarity and support. Amidst this commendable solidarity and hospitality shown to Ukrainian refugees, there has been an outrage regarding the perceived discrimination of non-Ukrainian refugees in Europe. In this article, I reflect on and discuss the purported discrimination of non-Ukrainian refugees. I argue that the racialized treatment of non-European asylum seekers and refugees witnessed during the Russo-Ukraine conflict is not an isolated, once-off event. Rather, it is a reflection of protracted discrimination against non-European asylum seekers and refugees in Europe. It reflects the failure of relevant authorities to implement the dictates of the international refugee protection regime, and therefore, more efforts are required to ensure that the rights of all asylum seekers and refugees are protected in practice.
Not every refugee fleeing from Ukraine was shown a warm welcome, specifically those hailing from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Reporters have documented dehumanizing treatment, such as racism, obstruction, and violence, against international students from these regions. Non-white students and migrant workers who had been living lawfully in Ukraine faced blatant discrimination. The stories surrounding this have been numerous. A Nigerian medical student was told by the guards at the border that “if you are black, you should walk.” A Nigerian doctor narrated seeing non-white refugees being beaten with sticks while being stranded at the border for more than two days. On reaching Poland, a Somalian medical student studying in Kyiv was told that “accommodation at the hotel was only for Ukrainians.” A Guinean student studying in Kharkiv described how he was turned back at the border while white refugees were allowed to cross over into Poland. One student from Ghana described her experience, saying: “Mostly, they would consider White people first. White people first, Indian people, Arabic people before Black people.”Priority on vehicles leaving the country was given to white women and children, while African women were barred from trains departing Kyiv even though there were many empty seats. Clearly, there is a prioritization of some people over others; whether it is based on race or nationality is uncertain.
The essence of how an international refugee protection regime should work exists in solidarity and mobility of support, especially in times of crisis; keeping borders open, not penalizing refugees for arriving without valid identity, and restricting the use of detention measures, refugees being able to join their family members free in other countries. However, history reveals that this is not how the international protection regime operates in Europe, particularly in those countries that are now accepting Ukrainian refugees. European countries that first refused non-European refugees have now felt moved to provide refuge for their fellow white Europeans. Public discourse in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania is frequently tainted by racist and xenophobic rhetoric about refugees and migrants, particularly those from Middle Eastern and African countries. They have also adopted hostile policies like border pushbacks and draconian detention measures. Some reporters have expressed their disbelief that a refugee crisis could occur in Europe among people “so like us.” The treatment of white Ukrainian refugees is different from the racialized refugees from places like South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, and Haiti. For instance, Canada has accepted the same number of Ukrainian refugees in three months as from Afghanistan over the past year, despite longstanding promises to accept Afghan refugees.
In late 2021, the atrocious treatment of mostly Iraqi and Afghan migrants and asylum seekers trapped on Belarus’s borders with Poland and Lithuania sparked outrage across Europe. Belarus was accused of weaponizing the predicament of the refugees by enticing them to Belarus to travel further into EU countries as retaliation against EU sanctions. The refugees and migrants were brutalized by Polish border guards. Many sustained serious injuries, and thousands were left stranded in the freezing winter temperatures between the two countries in deplorable conditions with no food, shelter, medicines, or blankets. At least 19 migrants succumbed to the frigid cold. In response, Poland erected razor-wire fencing, constructed a 186-kilometre wall to prevent asylum seekers entering from Belarus, and adopted legislation that expels anyone crossing the borders at irregular intervals and bans their re-entry. Regardless of the stand-off between Poland and Belarus, the former nation did not extend a warm welcome to its refugees. Asylum seekers were hardly granted refugee status (out of 2,803 applications in 2020, only 161 were granted refugee status), and a total of 1,675 migrants and asylum seekers were in detention in January 2022, as compared to 122 in 2020.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report released on September 6, 2022, that 7.1 million Ukrainians have applied for refuge in EU members, especially in Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania. The country that accepted the most Ukrainians was neighbouring Poland, with 2.5 million, followed by Hungary, with 1.3 million, and Germany, with roughly one million. According to the report, over 4 million Ukrainians were taken into temporary protection programs. In disparity, however, during the decade-long Syrian civil war, the EU has only welcomed 1.1 million Syrians. According to UN data, 560,000 Syrian refugees have been taken in by Germany, 560,000 by Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, and France, and 120,000 by Greece.
The double standards and racism inherent in Europe’s refugee responses are glaring in the fact that no calls were made from Brussels to detain the Ukrainian refugees for up to18 months. The Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov spoke on the matter: “These are not the refugees we are used to… These people are Europeans… These people are intelligent; they are educated people…This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have even been terrorists.”
Several African leaders, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, strongly criticized the discrimination on the borders of Ukraine by stating that everyone has the same right to cross international borders to flee conflict and seek safety. The African Union stated that “reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and a breach of international law” and called for all countries to “show the same empathy and support to all people fleeing war notwithstanding their racial identity.” Similar messages were shared by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who tweeted: “I am grateful for the compassion, generosity and solidarity of Ukraine’s neighbours who are taking in those seeking safety. It is important that this solidarity is extended without any discrimination based on race, religion or ethnicity.” The UN High Commissioner for Refugees stressed that “it is crucial that receiving countries continue to welcome all those fleeing conflict and insecurity—irrespective of nationality and race and that they receive adequate international support to carry out this task.” Clearly, there is profound racial discrimination against non-European migrants in European countries, as revealed through the Russo-Ukraine conflict and the consequent racialized treatment of refugee seekers from Ukraine. This calls for more efforts toward the protection of the rights of all asylum seekers and refugees, regardless of nationality or race. There is a need to move beyond the refugee protection rhetoric espoused by agencies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees towards their practical implementation, which shall realize the non-racialized treatment of refugees.
Melody Khuoltaikim Singson is a law student from Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi who often delves into research, content writing and editing with a profound interest in international law, refugee law, human rights law, and peace, conflict & security studies and intends to pursue a Master of Law degree in the same to further her knowledge and contribute meaningfully to what she considers her purpose.